Jerry Falkner said he "heard glass breaking" and "thought someone was breaking in," after the deer smashed through a window.

"The next thing I know, a deer is running toward my room," he said.

The animal ran into the bathroom, and the family locked it inside. The Falkners, however, did not know that their pit bull, Shadow, was inside the room with the deer.

The deer kicked on the water, flooding the apartment, and briefly knocked the dog unconscious.

Police, with the family's help, got the dog out of the bathroom, while Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials tranquilized the doe and took it away.

Police Officer Victor Cera said the deer apparently was behind the apartment building when it was spooked by dogs let out of a kennel. Falkner said he believed the doe came through the window to elude children who cornered it near two 7-foot-high fences behind the apartment.

"In the 16 years that I've been doing this, I've seen all kinds of stuff," Cera said. "But this is probably the most bizarre."